The World of J.R.R. Tolkien

by Dimitra Fimi

Though there has been some contention over the title, J.R.R. Tolkien is regarded by many as the father of modern fantasy fiction. His works, including the beloved Hobbit and epic Lord of the Rings, have found a vast and varied audience since they were first published in the middle of the 20th century. Why have these stories come to define our conceptions of fantasy storytelling? What is it about Tolkien’s meticulously constructed world of Middle-earth that continues to enthrall readers across the generations?

As you will see, age-old traditions, contemporary history and culture, and “big” human questions are key ingredients of Tolkien’s success. In The World of J.R.R. Tolkien, you will join Dr. Dimitra Fimi to delve into Tolkien’s complex and multilayered mythology, examining all these ingredients and more. In these 10 lectures, you will explore and appreciate Middle-earth as medieval, mythological, and modern, a literary creation that was shaped by forces old and new. And you may be surprised to discover just how much of Tolkien’s legendarium was constructed posthumously, with his son Christopher compiling and publishing many of Tolkien’s later works after his death.

Throughout these lectures, you will learn about Tolkien’s life as a devoted scholar of languages and literature and the immense body of legends he built, while also tracing his outsized influence on the fantasy genre and the writers and other artists that would follow. From the most disparate materials, from his academic interests to his war experiences to the stories he told his children, this gifted creator fashioned a new mythology that would carry its relevance from the 20th century into our own.

Genres: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Biography, Literary Criticism, Literature, Mythology, History

Audible Audio

Published August 11, 2022

About the author

I am Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children's Literature and Co-Director of the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic at the University of Glasgow. I write on, research, and teach the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, children's fantasy, and fantasy and folklore.

Reviews

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The World of J.R.R. Tolkien is a fantastic appetizer for someone who wants to tip their toes into Tolkien mythology after the core novels. The key objective of this lecture series is to outline the Professors influences, core themes and objectives when tackling his great works. It's less focused on plot and character but centred upon that perspective. As you can tell from the length, this is a very short lecture series, but Dimitra Fimi uses her time extremely well. As someone who loved the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, 3 Great Tales, Perilous Realm, Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and read elements of History of Middle Earth, this was quite delightful. Dimitra is a Tolkien scholar, and she demonstrates that quite compellingly. Her insight into Mythology (from Fairy tales to Norse Myths) was fantastic. Thankfully Dimitra’s website or even on her Twitter she has shared links to additional references and readings if you wish to delve deeper into those subjects. This does lean more toward academic but Dimitra Fimi's enthusiasm for the subject will enthral you. The topics she explores are:

Lecture 1: Tolkien's Middle-Earth: Medieval and Modern
Lecture 2: A 'Mythology for England'?
Lecture 3: An 'Elf-Centered' Mythology
Lecture 4: Reshaping Tradition: Setting up a Mythology
Lecture 5: Dragons and Hobbits: Merging Old and New
Lecture 6: Theological Roots: Fall and 'Eucatastrophe'
Lecture 7: Inventing Languages: 'A Secret Vice'
Lecture 8: Evil, War and Trauma in Middle-Earth
Lecture 9: Gender and Race in Middle-earth
Lecture 10: Receptions and Legacies

In general, I thought she explored all of these topics very well. I was most cautious about Lecture 9 but Dimitra tackles the subject quite well. Though some remarks I would respectfully disagree with, but beyond that, it was a fair and good lecture. In conclusion, I would admit I knew a good portion of this series just from watching a lot of YouTube videos but Dimitra packages this content extremely well with insights that make me re-evaluate elements of the professor's legendarium. In conclusion, I had a good time, and I would recommend it.

Note: You should at least finish Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion (or Children of Hurin) before listening to this lecture series.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and straight-forward exploration of Tolkien's world, viewing it through a modern lens as well as the context that it was written in. Definitely adds depth and nuance to his work, knowing more about his medieval mythological inspirations and his rhetorical goals.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting listen! Its wonderful to hear the history of the most famous (arguably, of course) fantasy books of all time. Tolkien was a very interesting man, scholar, author, and linguist. I had no idea that "fairy stories" and other fantastical writing elements were held to such high regard in the early 20th century. I also had no idea what a gift for language Tolkien had. Obviously I knew he "created" several languages for his books, but I did not know that he used spoken languages like Finnish and existing runic languages as inspiration for his own, functional languages, nor that there were different sublanguages. Elvish, for example, has more than one cultural language.

Dr. Fimi is wonderfully knowledgeable and a joy to listen to. This 4 hour set of lectures is a great palate cleanser if you are in-between novels and wish to break up your reading with something light, interesting, and informative.

[Trent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this course back in 2022, and listened to it before Rings of Power Season 1.

I just went through it again in 2024 to prep for RoP S2.

It is a wonderful overview of Tolkien's life and inspirations, especially if you are someone interested in this context but maybe not ready to read a full Tolkien Biography yet. Dmitra Fini is clearly very knowledgeable on not only Tolkien but the mythology that inspired him. She is also very easy to listen to.

There are ten lectures, each around 30 minutes in length, and I found them all fairly fascinating.

If you are a fan of Middle Earth, this course is for you!

[Tim Weed · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent lecture series on one of the greatest novelists and myth-makers of the 20th century. Professor Fini's analysis of Tolkien's influences and influence is sympathetic, learned, and fair. The lectures are well constructed and never boring. Highly recommended, not as a substitute for actually reading Tolkien, but as a way of understanding and appreciating the world that formed him, his remarkable literary genius, and the reasons that his body of work continues to reverberate in our culture right up to the present day. Highly recommended!

[Dinara Bekmagambetova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Наслышана об этой серии лекций на Audible, и начать решила именно с Толкина, потому что а как же иначе. Я не очень хорошо разбираюсь в мифологии Толкина. "Хоббита" с "Властелином колец" и сказки его люблю, а вот "Сильмариллион" два раза начинала, и не пошел он мне. Хотя для Толкина, оказывается, именно Сильмариллион был ключевым элементом всей его работы, как говорит профессор Димитра Фими, "основой его мифологии". Кстати, автор лекций профессор Фими преподает курс по фэнтези и детской литературе в Университете Глазго.

Все началось с того, что Толкин мечтал создать мифологию для Англии. У скандинавов была своя богатая богами и героями мифологическая коллекция, у греков и римлян тоже, даже у шотландцев, ирландцев и уэльсцев было что-то свое, а у Англии не было. Идея о том, что какой-то один человек может замыслить придумать целую мифологию для целого народа, сейчас для нас звучит абсурдно, но в конце 19 - начале 20 века, в годы юности Толкина, идея эта была весьма популярна, рассказывает Фими.

Что меня особенно зацепило в серии лекций - идея хоббитов как проводников читателя в мир Средиземья. Хоббиты очень выделяются на фоне остальных персонажей своей приземленностью и привязанностью к своему быту. Оказывается, Толкин ввел хоббитов как своеобразное связующее звено между нашим миром и Средиземьем. Хоббиты - это мы, если бы мы оказались там. Для них, как и для нас, все происходящее - в новинку) А еще было интересно узнать, что Битлз мечтали экранизировать "Властелина колец" с Джоном Ленноном в роли Гэндальфа. Они даже предложили Кубрику снять этот фильм, но тот быстро остудил их пыл, заявив, что это невозможно.

Всего лекций 10, и они охватывают очень многое: от отражения первой мировой войны во "Властелине колец" до принципов создания языков по методу Толкина и огромного влияния Толкина абсолютно на всех писателей фэнтези. Обязательно послушайте, если будет возможность.

[Anton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite set of lectures on Tolkien and his writing!! What a pleasant surprise...

This was an impulse read via Audible in response to the Rings of Power launch on Amazon recently - https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Pow....

A chance encounter left me mightily impressed with the author. I will be coming back to pick up her full-length books:
- Tolkien, Race and Cultural History: From Fairies to Hobbits
- A Secret Vice

Dimitra is also a gifted audiobook narrator! Hope she will record her other books as well.

Strongest possible recommendation for all Tolkien fans. Check out also Dimitra's website - a true treasure trove!! Here: http://dimitrafimi.com/tolkien-course...

If you enjoyed this lecture series, other books you may also consider:
- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
- Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-earth => on my TBR

[Dee Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible.com 5 hours 13 min. Narrated by Dmitra Fimi (C)
Pronounced accent often hard for me to understand

I believe all of Tolkien's readers would benefit from this short recording.Tthere's so much more to Tolkien's writings than his fantasy novelsThe Hobbit and TLOTR than even The Silmarillion. I am familiar with Tolkien's early life and his relationship with The Inklings and C. S. Lewis and his Christian world view. D. Fimi gave me border view of the prodigious wealth of his writings. Fifty years after his death they are still being compiled and await study. I'm grateful to know he lived long enough to be surprised by their popularity in mass markets in the UK and USA.
I have better understanding of good vs evil, Middle-earth, the elven world, dragons and hobbits, his theological roots, the affect of two wolrd wars on writings, his creation of languages, gender and race, and Tolkien's legacy to the fantasy genre.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this deeper dive into Tolkien’s worlds, both real and imagined, and was glad I took the time to listen to this lecture series. The author clearly knows her subject inside and out, and presents it in well-thought out segments. I liked learning of the origins of things from wizards, to orcs, elves and Balrogs. Some of it got a little wordy, and I noticed my attention wandering in those portions, but mostly I really liked it. I think I might not have enjoyed it if it had gone much longer than the four hours it took to listen though.

[Diana Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy The Great Courses especially this one. Not as long as other courses I've listen to but this was is fantastic and touches many subjects involved in the writing of Tolkien. I loved it and can listen to it over and over again it was so insightful. I'm planning to make March 2024 my month of revisiting the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, while adding many more readings of Tolkien's works and stories of myths, legends, fairy tales and other stories of fantasy. I really recommend this work for those that enjoy Tolkien and fantasy.

[Shervin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect
Nice little 10/10 book that touches everything ot Tolkien's world albeit on the surface. The books length and depth suffices if you wanna know more about Tolkien's world beyond the journey of the characters itself and what you have seen in its movies. This book will give you some idea about where Tolkien's ideas are coming from and how original are they and or how much of it was because of Tolkien's life and the time he was living in. I am extremely surprised that the topic of racism and Orientalism* wasn't buried under and some attention was paid to it by the author.

Highly recommended

Ps: lol born in 20th century in South Africa to a middle class family and studied philology

[Ne Na · Rating 5 out of 5]

So from what I understand, he wanted to publish Silmarillion and the publisher said "too boring, but the readers love those little hobbits, can you do more of that?" and he was like "ok, fine 😒" lolol and then proceeded to nitpick the manuscript for 10 years and then publish LOTR which was supposed to be a single very large brick but there was a paper shortage so they split it in three

[anautumnaldream · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this one, it made me look at a few things i hadn't even thought of before and got many new perspectives into the works of tolkien overall. it makes me want to hunt more lecture series/books like these to be perfectly honest.

[Jonathan Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Added a lot of new Tolkien-related things to my to-read list now.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good look into the world building of Tolkien. It explores his influences and experiences that helped shape his work.

[Adam Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Intro to the work and context of JRR Tolkien. 

When I tend to get too ambivalent with my current reading (both interested in the topic but not wanting to pick up the book), I often turn to lecture series like the Great Courses on random subjects to either distract me or to be in conversation with whatever I am currently reading. Picking up The World of JRR Tolkien is clearly an attempt at something completely different. (And an attempt to prepare for the Amazon series coming up soon.)

The World of JRR Tolkien is shorter than most Great Courses at only nine lectures and a bit over 4.5 hours. I listened to it in just a couple of days. I am not a Tolkien scholar, and while I did revisit the Lord of the Rings earlier this year, that was the first time I have read the books in about 20 years. And I have not previously read a biography of Tolkien or books about him. So this was mostly new material for me. I am very familiar with CS Lewis and the Inklings, so I am not entirely new, but almost nothing in this lecture series by Dimitra Fimi repetitive to what I have previously read or listened to.

The first lecture is about how Middle-earth is both medieval and modern and gives a general introduction to the series and Tolkien. The second lecture caught me off guard; it is about how Tolkien initially attempted to create a mythology for England that would draw together the country in ways not unlike what was intended for the Book of Common Prayer. That is not just audacious, but it is concerning from our 21st-century vantage point, given the ways shared memory, and a common mythology was misused with the Nazi regime and the Lost Cause mythology in the US.

Most of the middle lectures are more structural. There are discussions about Elves and how their common cultural understanding changes because of Tolkien. And how mythology (in the sense of origin story or story of shared meaning) works. Similarly, there is a whole lecture on the theological roots of Tolkien's writing, especially the concept of the fall and the "Eucatastrophe." And there are lectures on Dragons and Hobbits, Tolkien's love of languages, and what it means for him to have created languages for the books.

Given my interests, I was also particularly interested in the last two lectures on Evil, Trauma, and War, and the use of Gender and Race in Middle-earth. I know there are books about how Tolkien's military service impacted his writing, but I have not read any of them. (A Hobbit, A Wardrobe and a Great War is one.) But the specific discussion of trauma and PTSD that Tolkien may have experienced and certainly would have observed and how he includes similar concepts in the characters of his stories was helpful.

Similarly, while I mused about Tolkien's conception of race and how the culture of racial superiority may have impacted him, Fimi both places Tolkien in context and explores how he participates in the culture of racial and gender hierarchy and pushes back against it. Eugenics was part of the culture of his yearly years of teaching at Oxford, but also the Lord of the Rings was not published until about a decade after World War II, and the Aryan nationalism and racism and the eugenics of the Nazis impacted the way that English thought regarded eugenics after the war. I had thought about how the villains were racialized, but I had not thought as much about how Elves were a type of perfect race tainted by mixing with humans (although they could marry and have children.)

Similarly, because I have not read any of the Silmarillion or other tales, her frequent reference to those stories and Tolkien's letters and other writings did help to round out my understanding of him as a whole person, not just regarding race and gender, but certainly regarding those two topics.

The Advisory Opinions podcast, a legal podcast that I rarely skip, tends to do random interviews in August when the legal world is often on vacation. Today, they brought on historian Bret Devereaux to talk about the ways that fantasy literature and movies are accurate and inaccurate to the real history of the Middle Ages. There was a significant discussion of Tolkien because he was so influential to fantasy literature overall. There was no overlap in content between Fimi's Great Courses content and Devereaux's content, so if you are interested in Tolkien, both are worth listening to.

[Tom Schulte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recently begun Amazon series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power set uring a time of relative peace and covers all the major events of Middle-earth's Second Age: the forging of the Rings of Power, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron.

From "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Scene Guide":

2:06:55 – The goblins start searching the dwarves for weapons, and empty out a large bag of what appears to be Elvish cutlery and candlesticks. The Goblin King examines a gold candelabra and turns it over: “Made in Rivendell?” he says “Bah – Second Age, couldn’t give it away!” he exclaims, and tosses it aside.

The author's website is a great adjunct to this brisk and broad overview of Tolkein's inspirations and creation.

[Henry Gee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series of lectures by Dr Dimitra Fimi (a Senior Lecturer in Fantasy and Children’s Literature at the University of Glasgow) covers the life and works of J. R.R. Tolkien and delves fairly deeply into such matters as his invented languages; his sources among the mythic traditions of Europe; the nature of evil; his influence on popular culture; and the sometimes vexed questions of race and gender raised by Tolkien’s work. If you have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and possibly The Silmarillion, but haven’t had the energy (or desire) to get stuck into the twelve-volume History of Middle-earth and the other intimidating edifices of Tolkien’s work edited and published posthumously by Christopher Tolkien, his son and indefatigable literary executor, this course is the easiest and most entertaining way to become ridiculously well-informed about the life and works of the Great Hobbitmonger. DISCLAIMER: the author is a personal friend who I’ve bumped into at various Tolkien-related events.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings while in the sixth grade. Since then I’ve reread the main books a great many times and read The Silmarillion at least four or five times. I’ve also picked up and enjoyed a handful of the other books published after Tolkien died. I always enjoy learning more about Middle Earth and how Tolkien came to write it and that’s what this Great Courses series does. It tells you a lot about how Tolkien came to create the best known fantasy world in all of literature and focuses mostly upon those other books of Tolkien lore (not that she ignores the main four). If you enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, this is a must-read series of lectures. I’m sure I’ll read it again one day myself.

[Edee Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

This was a cool little lecture series, but I think it ultimately suffered from brevity. Many of the topics could have been explored in 2-3 lectures each, rather than condensing them into 1. I was left unsatisfied, and I already knew a lot of the basic concepts covered.

I did enjoy learning about Tolkien’s goals for his writing — a mythology for England(!) — and also, how hobbits are unique to his work and the discussion of the evolution of how he envisioned the elves of Middle Earth. I think anyone tackling the posthumous legendarium should check this out as it frames out the additional writings really well. So many people love the novels and get smacked in the face with the Silmarillion.

[Dave Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, specific, college style lectures
This is a 4 and a half hour series of college style lectures about... what it says on the cover. The World of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Who he was, The Edwardian world he was born into, the myths and legends that he borrowed from, a lot about The Silmarillion, and aspects of the languages that he created.
One way this series of lectures differs from other courses and Tolkien for dummies is that this one directly addresses the inherent racism of LOTR without just dismissing it as if it didn't happen.
This isn't he most exhaustive overview of Tolkien, and that is good, because a deep dive into his minutiae is very exhausting indeed.

[Niniane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned:

- how Tolkien wanted to create an origin story and mythology associated with England, like how the Nordic countries have myths of Odin and Loki

- analysis of the race issues e.g. how Orcs are dark. Also gender issues such as how there are few women in the story.

- how the Great War (WW1) led to the depiction of Mordor and the feelings of futility.

- how Tolkien based elf and dwarf language on real languages like Welsh

Overall I found it interesting to hear this analysis. It was lighthearted but also thought provoking.

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good overview of J.R.R. Tolkien's life and includes some analysis of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It is in no way comprehensive, and I would have probably given this audio course three stars, but the author earned an extra star by reciting the full lyrics of one of the songs in Lord of the Rings in the elfin language and made it sound natural.

I might listen to this audio course again just to remind myself of little details of Tolkien's life and stories.

[Sonstepaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a remarkable little text! I’ve been something of an armchair Tolkien scholar for 30 years and have read nearly all existent analysis from Shippey to Carpenter to the many modern podcasts. Fimi’s tight little analysis—helped with her expertise as a learner of English as a secondary language—has some surprising and even staggering insights.

Lots of food for thought for the fans and critics.

[Hunter Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic look behind the scenes at Tolkien's life, training, motivation etc. The professor obviously knows a ton about this and her passion comes through loud and clear. Strongly recommend you have read at least some of Tolkien's work especially LOTR/Hobbit. There are a lot of references that I think would be impossible to appreciate without this knowledge.

[Floriane · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best of The Great Courses series that I have listened to (and by now, I have listened to a lot of them!). I immediately bought "A Secret Vice" to further explore the theme of language in Tolkien's world as I found the lesson/chapter on the topic absolutely fascinating. I also loved the last two chapters (women/race + legacy). I really recommend this one!

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fascinating. Dimitra Fimi's lectures are the most interesting Tolkien scholarship I have read since 'The Gospel According to Tolkien' and 'Understanding The Lord Of The Rings.' I know I have not read many full books of Tolkien scholarship, and I do not know whether lectures count as a book. But it's on Goodreads! I'll just count it.

[Kyla Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must listen for Tolkien fans.

The lectures were excellent, and gave incredible info in bite sized chunks. Truly, this felt more like a podcast than a lecture series. Fimi’s analysis was thorough and honest, but she is also incredibly funny and engaging. I will be returning to this one often, and am actively hunting down her other work.

[Paul Triller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A series of well-paced lectures containing (but not limited to) great information, biographical insights, a look at Tolkien's worlds - real and imagined.

Having read The Hobbit and LORD numerous times, with what I have learned from these lectures, the next time will be even better!!!

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A scholarly background on the reasoning & influences underlying Tolkien’s legendarium. Deepens the stories to hear these connections. I was particularly taken by the listing of dwarf names from an old Norse text & it was all the names that Tolkien used, including Gandalf!